Stand for christmas trees and the like



Nov. 16 1948. R, L, 5T5. 2,454,231

sumo Fox CHRISTMAS TREES AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 30, 1946' Fig.1 E

11 11 1/ L 8 1 Lb O 1 BY ATTORNEYS hold them upright.

Patented Nov. 16, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THE LIKE Reinhold L. "Stoick, Missolila, 'Mont. llppli'eation october 30, 1946, "serialNo. "706,717

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates tostandsfor Christmas trees and like objects which require a stand to The invention provides an improved stand that ais easily made from three strips of wood, metal, or other material, slotted so that the stand can be-quickly assembled for use, and may equally quickly be disassembledand compactly bundled for-storage when not inuse. Numerous and diverse designs for Christmas treestand-s have been proposed and employed in the past. Many :suchstands have been made from bent metal strips of small cross-sectional dimensions, and are too light in weight and too filimsy in construction toprovide a substantial support for a Christmas tree. Othermore substantial stands have been made from wood or sheet meal, but sufier from the disadvantage that they-cannot be disassembled and so are rather bulky to store whennot in use. Stands heretofore proposed that are capable of being disassembled for storage, and that "at the same time provide a substantial support for the tree, generally have been of complicated construction, and often have been made up of a large number of separate pieces, so that assembly and disassembly of such stands is correspondingly-complicated. Finally, many stands heretofore proposed have required special tools to fasten thestand to the tree, or have requiredcutting the'base'of the tree trunk to the proper size for fitting in the 1 stand.

The stand provided by the present invention is made up of only three strips of Wood or other suitable material, and'is designed so that it may be quickly assembled for use and may equally t quickly be disassembled for storage. Attachment of the stand when assembled to 'thetrunk of a tree maybe accomplishedby a thumbscrew which requires no special tools for tightening.

Each of the three supporting strips comprising the new stand'is formed with a pair of .slots extending from a side edge about tothe longitudinal center line of the strip, and the slots in the several strips are so spacedand arranged that each strip may be interlocked in the region of made of wood, although they may be made of anyother desired material. For example, they may be fabricated from sheet metal, or may be made of plastic or composition board. Essentially each of these elements is a strip of wood or other material .of whatever length and width is desired.

The length of the strip corresponds to the breadth of the stand-and determines its stability. The Width of the strip determines the height of the stand. The corners 8, 9, and H] of the strips, which are uppermost when the stand is assembled,.-.advantageously are beveled, as shown, or are rounded, to improve the appearance of the stand and to avoid having sharp corners at places where children might fall on them.

Each of the strips is provided with two lateral slots, eachof which slots extends laterally from aside edge about to the longitudinal center line of the strip. In one of the strips 5, the slots H both extend downwardly from the upper edge of the strip. In another of the strips 1, both of the slots I 2 extend upwardly from the bottom edge of the-strip. In the third strip 6, one of the slots 13 extends upwardly from the bottom edge, and theother slot 14 extends downwardly from the upper edge, in both instances about to the longitudinal center line of the strip. Advantageously the width of each slot is substantially equal to .the thickness of the material of which the strips are formed. The slots ,in each strip are spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the diameter of'the trunk of the largest tree the stand is intended to accommodate.

When the thickness of the strips 5, 6 and l is substantial, as generally is the case when the strips are made of wood, the slots II, [2, l3 and [4 preferably are cut at an angle of about 60 to the plane of the strip, and the pair of slots in each strip are cut so that projections of the planes of the slots converge toward or away from the observer, rather than extend parallel, as indicated by the perspective in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The three strips shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 may quickly be assembled into the stand shown in Fig. 4 by simply interlocking the several strips in the regions of their slots. For example, strip 5 is set in position as the left-hand element of the stand shown in Fig. 4, and strip 6 is interlocked with it to form the right-hand element of the stand by simply pushing the region in which the slot i3 is formed downwardly over the region in which one of the slots H is formed in the other strip 5, so that the wood directly below the slot H in the first strip 5 is received in the slot I3 formed in the bottom edge of the second strip 6, and similarly the wood directly above the slot [3 is received in the slot ll. The stand is then completed by interlocking the third strip 1 in the region of its upwardly extending slots l2 with the assembled strips 5 and 6 in the regions of their downwardly extending slots H and M. The top edges of the three strips forming the assembled stand all lie in a common plane, as do their bottom edges.

The assembled stand defines a central triangular recess capable of receiving the trunk of a Christmas tree. When the strips have been slotted for assembly into a symmetrical stand, as when the spacing between the slots is the same for all strips, then the cross-sectional shape of the recess is substantially that of an equilateral triangle. The dimensions of the recess are established by the distance the slots in each strip are spaced apart. The outward extension of each strip beyond the slots formed therein broadens the base of the stand and imparts a high degree of stability to it. The triangular shape of the stand, resulting in six such projections each extending in a diiferent direction from the central triangular recess, further increases the stability of the stand and so reduces the likelihood that a tree mounted in the stand will be upset.

A thumbscrew It may be mounted in the center portion of one of the strips 1, to clamp the trunk of a tree mounted in the central recess 15 of the stand in the angle of the recess opposite the thumbscrew. The thumbscrew may be threaded directly into the strip I, or may be threaded into a metal insert fastened to the strip 1. A thumbscrew generally is the most satisfactory means for clamping the stand to the trunk of a tree, as no special tools are required to manipulate it, and as the tightening of it against the trunk of the tree causes a reaction force to be exerted against the strip through which it extends which clamps such strip in the slots of the other two strips with which it interlocks, but other clamping means may be employed if desired.

It is evident from the foregoing description that the new stand may be assembled and disassembled very rapidly, with no special tools. If a thumbscrew is used to clamp the trunk of a tree in the central recess of a stand, the entire operation of assembling the stand and fastening it to a tree may be accomplished entirely by hand in a minute or so. The generally triangular shape of the stand requires only three strips of wood or other material, and consequently the disassembled stand elements may be bundled very compactly for storage. At the same time, as pointed out above, the triangular shape of the stand actually contributes to increased stability. While the new stand is of very simple design, and hence may be manufactured easily and inexpensively, it is nonetheless very sturdy, and provides as stable support for a Christmas tree as even the best and most expensively constructed stands heretofore available.

Iclaim:

1. A stand for Christmas trees and the like comprising three supporting strips each of which is formed with a pair of slots extendin from a side edge about to the center line of the strip, said slots being arranged so that each strip may be interlocked in the region of its slots with each of the other two strips to form a stand having a central triangular recess capable of receiving the trunk of a tree.

2. A stand for Christmas trees and the like comprising three supporting strips each of which is formed with a pair of slots extending from a side edge about to the center line of the strip, said slots being arranged so that each strip may be interlocked in the region of its slots with each of the other two strips to form a stand having a central triangular recess capable of receiving the trunk of a tree, and means for clamping the stand to the tree.

' 3. A stand for a Christmas tree or the like comprising three strips, two of said strips being formed each with a pair of spaced lateral slots extending inwardly from the same side edge of the strip about to the center line thereof, and the third of said strips being formed with a pair of spaced slots one of which extends from one side edge about to the center line of the strip and the other of which extends from the opposite side edge about to the center line of the strip, said slots being of such size and so arranged that each strip may be interlocked in the region of its slots with each of the other two strips to form a stand having a central triangular recess capable ofreceiving the trunk of a tree.

REINHOLD L. STOICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 982,866 Poppendieck Jan. 31, 1911 1,255,557 Norman Feb. 5, 1918 1,386,947 Quinn Aug. 9, 1921 1,540,856 Munro June 9, 1925 1,997,870 Merrill Apr. 16, 1935 2,441,473 Davis May 11, 1948 

